the boy with the orange hair 

october 2011

Jungkook looked at his black dress shoes boredly, silently sighing. He didn't really want to sit through a dozen interviews while his father and the head secretary (whom he was pretty sure his father was a little more than friendly with) grilled hopeful interviewees with their relentless questions. But apparently, his presence was a necessary requirement and there was no way he could avoid it.

Jungkook had zoned out before the first interviewee had even walked in, "Good morning!" a deep baritone voice greeted, his tone chirpy but not over-zealous. Jungkook heard a chair softly drag against the floor, suggesting that candidate #1 had taken a seat a few metres away.

Was that a scratch on the side of his right leather shoe? "Hello," he heard the head secretary reply, and Jungkook could already hear the judgemental edge in her voice, "You're Kim Taehyung, I presume?"

At that moment, Jungkook decided to look up, wondering what candidate #1 had done to earn Yeonhwa’s disapproval so quickly. The black haired boy had been taught how to control his expressions from an early age, and he was glad he could because his jaw hitting the floor would have been quite embarrassing.

In front of him stood a tall, slim guy in a black blazer with the sleeves rolled up and dark blue semi-formal trousers that fit him really well. He looked like he was around Jungkook’s age, maybe a few years older. His feet were clad in red slip ons, and Jungkook wanted to slap himself for wishing that the guy's white boatneck shirt dipped a little lower so that he could see more of those defined collar bones.

Oh, and the boy had the most striking bright orange hair Jungkook had ever seen.

"Yes, I am," the boy in question responded with a nod, and Jungkook concluded that he could listen to this guy talk all day because holy , his voice was wonderful.

"This is Jeon Jungwan, he's the president of this company," the woman began, gesturing to the salt-and-pepper haired man sitting next to her, still eyeing candidate #1’s outfit and hair with subtle distaste, "This is Jeon Jungkook, he's the president's son," she continued, and Jungkook winced at the burdening title attached to his name that he could never seem to escape, "And I'm Kim Yeonhwa, the head secretary."

“It's nice to meet you all," Kim Taehyung smiled, looking around the room as he bowed his head politely. Jungkook found it a little difficult to look away from the boy’s box grin. He also concluded that the round glasses perched on the boy's nose made him look quite cute.

"Well then, let's get down to business, shall we gentlemen?" Yeonhwa announced, opening up her binder and whipping out a pen from god knows where, "What are your educational achievements?" she asked, and Jungkook now sat forward and listened with interest.

"I graduated from high school three years ago, and I'm in my second year of university at the moment," Kim Taehyung replied, and Yeonhwa scribbled this information down at almost inhuman speeds.

"Won't that conflict with your job timings, if you were to get hired?" she remarked, tapping her red manicured nails rhythmically against the surface of the table.

"That wouldn't be a problem, because I take night classes, I'm not much of a morning person," he said, causing Yeonhwa to raise an eyebrow. When he realized what he had said, his eyes widened a little and he shook his head, "Oh no, I can and will be from now on!" he added immediately, with a sheepish smile on his face.

"That's good," the oldest man in the room commented, nodding his head. Yeonhwa just looked on grudgingly, hard and uncompromising as always. Jungkook resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Jeon Jungwan flipped through Taehyung’s application form, "What are you studying?" he asked.

Jungkook noted that the orange haired boy looked calm and natural, and if he was intimidated by the strong personalities in the room, he concealed it well